澳门

Why this place

Macao, China was a Portuguese settlement for over four hundred years, and the result is a place where a Baroque church faces a Chinese temple across a square. Its historic centre is a UNESCO site, and its food — Macanese cooking — is a genuine fusion of Portuguese, African, Indian and Cantonese traditions that exists nowhere else.

What to see

• The Ruins of St Paul's and the Largo do Senado — the historic centre, best early
• A-Ma Temple, the temple that gave the city its name, and the Mandarin's House nearby
• The Taipa and Coloane villages, with colonial houses and the old waterfront
• The Macao Museum and Monte Fort, above the old city
• The Cotai strip's resorts, if you want to see what the modern city has become

What to eat

• Portuguese egg tarts — the custard tart, and the best are on the streets of the old town
• Macanese food: African chicken, minchi (minced pork with potato) and the pork chop bun
• Almond cakes, peanut candy and the dried meat shops of Rua dos Mercadores

How to plan

Two days: the historic centre and the food one day, Taipa and Coloane the next.

Best time

October–December and March–April

Practical tips

• Macao, China is small and walkable — you can cover the historic centre on foot in a day